The candidate is proposing a five-year career development plan to launch independent research on the topic of prenatal drug exposure as a risk factor for earlier onset and more rapid progression through stages of drug involvement (e.g., opportunity, first use, regular use, and dependence), with due consideration for susceptibility traits and other biological, psychological, and social/environmental influences. With licensure in child clinical psychology and postdoctoral training in drug dependence epidemiology, the candidate brings to this award expertise in child and adolescent development and psychopathology, rich clinical experiences to guide and inform her research efforts, knowledge of basic statistical methods, and a strong commitment to the study of early drug involvement. The multidisciplinary training plan includes mentorship from Dr. Clyde McCoy and other experienced senior NIDA-supported investigators, coursework/workshops, conferences, and consultation from content and methodological specialists. The centerpiece of the early award-supported activities will be a supervised research project focusing on the influence of prenatal cocaine exposure on the earliest stages of drug involvement. The starting model at this stage of the research plan is based on the testable idea that cocaine-exposed children will have earlier and more frequent opportunities to use drugs and will transition more rapidly from opportunity to first use between late childhood and middle adolescence. To this end, the candidate will gather new annual data in addition to analyzing data from an ongoing, longitudinal NIDA-funded study (R01DA06556; P.I.: E.S. Bandstra, co-sponsor) on the neurodevelopmental outcome of cocaine-exposed infants, who will again be assessed at age 12 years. Relationships between prenatal cocaine exposure and early drug involvement will be examined in the context of potential mediators already measured between birth and age 12 (e.g., executive functioning/attention, behavior problems), moderators (e.g., gender), and additional influences (e.g., deviant peers, ongoing maternal drug use). The candidate's own plan calls for the addition of measures of drug opportunities and sensation seeking during the 12-year visit, with annual follow-up assessments of these constructs via telephone as the children develop through adolescence. This K01 award will enable the candidate to devote full-time effort to NIDA research, while broadening her understanding of child and adolescent drug involvement and the longitudinal research methods (xxx; P.I.: J. C. Anthony, co-sponsor) and other content areas required to understand the interplay of early susceptibilities, environmental factors, and time-dependent influences that might shape the expression of prenatal drug exposure. This enhanced knowledge will be the foundation for the candidate's planning and implementation of her independent career in drug research.